Of Jesters and Monarchs
by 6Jake1man6
Summary: In an time lost to history, when magic and science converged, a great age came to pass. With machine more colossal than cities, magic more potent than that of shinobi, and wars more earth shattering than even that of the akatsuki. Past lives will be revealed, challenges over-come, countless lessons will be learned, and gods will be challenged. This is the age of the Jesters.


**For those of you who are familiar with the concept of reincarnation and atlantian/lemurian/Murian mythos, then this story will really interest you. It describes an event that I call "reincarnation, convergence." This means that everybody alive at one time, could be all reincarnated, at the same time and live together under different scenarios in a completely different age.**

**(Scenario: A meteor hits earth this week, 98 percent of humanity dies. Skip 10'000 years in the future, humanity has gone through a complete revival, new religions, reinvention of the same technology, and when the human population is large enough, EVERYBODY that died when the meteor struck, is reborn, at the same time.**

**They may not look the same as they once did, or even act the same(most do) a few are even of the opposite gender than they were in their past live.**

* * *

Of Monarchs and Jesters

Chapter 1:

An old Tome of Forgotten Legends

* * *

Hanabi sat in a homely armchair, a book in hand and her eyes fluttering.

The dusty, yet comfortable, library of the Hyuuga family estate had been her self-imposed prison all weekend, and at this late hour it was seducing her into sleep, and she was having difficulty refusing.

Just as her eyes shut and the first images of what was probably an amazing dream a loud scratching sound caused her to jerk back away.

Hanabi looked around frantically to see what the source of the noise, was. She solved the mystery when she saw the sight of the blue haired woman across from her.

"Oh, good morning big sister." Hanabi greeted as Hinata slid the reed decorated Fusuma(Japanese sliding door) shut and entered the room.

The fusuma grinded loudly against the floor as Hinata closed it. Hanabi would be sure to ask an attendant to clean it out.

"Hello Hanabi, and it's actually late at night, not morning." Hinata informed her, making the younger heiress blush.

Hinata giggled, no doubt at Hanabi's blush. Why was she adopting her older sisters habits?

"On another note, what have you been studying so diligently for?" Hinata asked worriedly.

Her older sister walked over to the armchair and took a seat on its armrest. She just had to sit as close to her as possible for some reason.

"Don't worry about it. You can't help anyways." Hanabi said, more bitterly than she had intended.

"Why do you say that?" Hinata asked curtly.

"Because, you're always busy with missions, and with your... boyfriend." Hanabi mumbled.

Hinata lowered her gaze at this, her constantly sad expression a little more prominent that usual. She then bent down and grabbed something off of the floor.

"I am not busy now." She stated, handing Hanabi a book.

Hanabi accepted her copy of "Mythos encyclopedia" back from her sister and sat it on her lap. It must have fallen to the floor when she went to sleep.

"Well... Okay." Hanabi conceded as she placed the book down on the table next to her.

"The teacher chose me to organize the school play for this year." Hanabi admitted.

The look of pure elation on her sisters face, instantly made Hanabi regret telling her.

"That's fantastic! Oooh, and I bet you want to use a Hyuuga myth to base the play on. I know just the one!" Hinata had clapped her hands together and rushed down the isles of books with more gusto than Hanabi had felt all weekend.

"The tale of the Six paths never gets old." Hinata suggested from behind the book shelves

"Oh yes it does, and besides, everybody has heard that one before. I want a story that hasn't left the hyuuga family yet."

"What about "The patrons of the moon?" Hinata suggested.

"Ewww. No. I don't want to make a play based on erotica."

"It's not erotic... It's a little suggestive, but not erotic. It's mainly a romance." Hinata countered.

"Whatever. I want a little romance in my play yes, but I want it tragic. I want a story as epic as the sage of the six paths, just a bit darker, and maybe sadder. One without a happy ending." Hanabi explained.

Hinata was silent for a few moments, deep in thought, or so Hanabi assumed, because when she next saw Hinata turn a corner around a book shelf and back into sight her eyes were glued firmly to the ground.

"I know, of one story that might be exactly what you're looking for." Hinata said hesitantly.

Hanabi waited patiently for her sister to go on and say what it was.

"I don't remember what its name is. Mother told it to me, a few nights before... before your birth. I barely remember it. I don't think she told me the name." Hinata explained.

Well that's no help at all.

"I think the title would definitely have the word 'jester' in it though." Hinata offered.

It's something.

Hanabi flipped through the pages of "Mythos Encyclopedia" until she reached the J's. "Jacinthe Massacre", no."Jade Rose Procession", no. "Jaw and maw", again, no. But these were some interesting names.

They were all clearly short stories, what with Jealous Songbirds, and "Jejunely skipping" (the only one Hanabi had ever heard of before, it was one of her favorites) until, finally.

"Here's one. It's titled 'Jester rising', you think that might be it?" Hanabi asked.

Hinata walked closer to her and took a seat on one of the pollows on the ground.

"What does the description say?" Hinata asked.

Hanabi looked closer, it was a short description, but she read it out loud anyways.

"_Jester Rising is an allegorical and poetic account of the life and mis-adventures of Misukase, the infamous Lord of the Jesters._

_Starting from his unnatural birth, through his childhood of suffering, mutilation, and eventual rise to ultimate power and infinite destruction, the story describes in detail the sins committed against him, and the sins he committed in return._

_This is not a story for the feint of heart._"

By the time Hanabi had finished her sister was shaking her head slowly.

"No, no that's not it. Misukase is 'in' the story, but he isn't the protagonist. This must be the prequel to the story mother told me." Hinata pondered.

"Or maybe mother read this story and invented a sequel to tell you, one that isn't as gruesome as this one seems to be."Hanabi offered.

Hinata nodded, thinking that it was a reasonable idea, and likely true.

"I'll go get the book, maybe it mentions a sequel." Hinata offered.

Hinata had disappeared behind the shelves before Hanabi could even answer with a yes.

A few moments later and...

"It's not here."

"What? Are you sure?" Hanabi asked apprehensively.

Hanabi sprinted through the small library to join her sister in the "J" section. and sure enough, in the "J-E" row, there was no "Jester Rising" anywhere.

The two spent the next half hour rifling through the J section, hoping against hope that somebody had miss-filed it, but the book was nowhere to be found.

It was late to begin with and Hanabi was even more tired than she was before.

"I think we should call it a day. It's a school night anyways, so you should have been in bed hours ago." Hinata chastised Hanabi.

This was true. Even though the library was at the center of the Hyuuga clan compound, and thus, had no windows, Hanabi could tell that it was nearing midnight.

"But everyone will be expecting to hear my ideas tomorrow." Hanabi yamned out.

"I'm sure you have at least a month before the play. So you have all this next week to come up with what you want to do. Don't worry. I'll be around to help you." Hinata comforted her as the two began to make their way out of the library.

They went through the noisy Fusama, which Hanabi reminded herself needed cleaning. The Zigzagging hallways of the Hyuuga complex were always tiring in and of themselves, so when Hanabi finally managed to get to her bedroom she bade her sister good night, and crawled into her tan comforter.

She was asleep before she knew it.

* * *

The next four days passed her by in a blur.

Civilian school was always a bore, and it was at times like these that Hanabi would usually beg her father to let her get into the ninja academy, but it was a no go. She was too old for it now.

She spent her days with her small circle of friends, trying to keep each-other awake during the boring ass history classes, and her evenings were spent jester hunting.

She took to reading through the titles in the Mythos Encyclopedia, hoping to find the work "Jester" somewhere in the title. But she had already made it to the "N's with no success.

Every afternoon when she got home she would check the shelves for Jester Rising, hoping that who-ever had taken it might have returned it.

But she already knew it wasn't checked out. She had already read through the check-out log, and nobody had taken it.

Her boredom reached such a point that she had actually taken it upon herself to clean out the sliders for the Fusama door. The smooth sliding sound the door made when closing after that was beyond gratifying.

She took to reading through some of her favorite tales, like Jejunely skipping (a book full of anecdotes about a small , dopey and whimsical girl, who would always just stumble into mischievous, and hilarious situations.

She reminded her a lot of that boy in the ninja academy, Konohamaru... and Hinata's boyfriend. She couldn't help wondering if Naruto had 'skipped' right into a Tazzle-worm nest before.

She wouldn't doubt it. After all he goes to Sand nation all the time and that's where they're native.

Eventually Friday reared its ugly head around and Hanabi realized that she still didn't have a story for the play. So she gritted her teeth and got back to scanning book titles in her encyclopedia.

Only twelve more letters to go after all...

It wasn't until she was halfway through the O's that she finally found it.

"Of Jesters and Monarchs!"

The person who filed this book was clearly retarded. In every other directory on the planet, a book with a title beginning with an ad-verb would have the adverb placed at the end. Ex: Jesters and Monarchs, of.

But hey, she finally found it, so she wasn't complaining... too loudly.

She started reading the description of the book, but as the first three words were '_Sequal to Jester rising', _She immediately snapped the book shut and charged into the O section.

"Please be there, please be there, please be there, YES IT"S HERE!" Hanabi howled in excitement.

She yanked the old tome from its place on the shelf, and the next thing she knew her hand was sandwiched between the book and the floor.

The book was at least a thousand pages long, and weighed more than the average dictionary. It took both hands to lift, but Hanabi took it back to her favorite armchair.

Hanabi's hands shook as she lifted the front cover and read the summary.

_The following is compilation of stories from cultures around the world describing the Jester Wars of millenia past, and the lives of the legendary Misukase, lord of the Jesters, and Kaia, Mother of the Byakugan._

"Oh yeah, sure, based off of a true story, I totally believe that." Hanabi said sarcastically.

She skipped the rest of the analysis of the book as well as the glossary and skipped right to the very first verse.

_In an age before the unity of ten_

_a grand trinity of clans stood on the cusp of war._

_Equals in power, but not in moral_

_While those in power quarreled and dissented_

_The commoner reaped the bounty of technology and the blessings of the stone_

_that gave them food, wealth, and power._

* * *

10'000 years earlier:

Kaia (past life of Hinata Hyuuga, please read the first author notes) sat down on the public bench, and stared into the water in front of her.

The luscious water garden in the center of Paddo, a small city situated on an equally small island nation, was one of her favorite haunts.

Lilly pads with every color of flower imaginable floated across the ponds surface. Throngs of bamboo were layered across the pond in intricate patterns, making paths to walk on, and held in place by beams that rose ten feat into the air. A second raised platform was held up by these beams, and turtle green vines hung from it, dipping into the water below.

Kaia was staring into the very center of the water garden, where a large, burnt and rotten pillar extended nearly thirty feet into the sky.

Three, foot tall pillars of equally rotten wood surrounded it's inner circles, followed by another nearly 10 feet tall, followed by another that was nearly two after that were all around three feet tall.

The water garden never failed to help her relax, even after a week as unfruitful as this one.

She felt a little narcissistic looking into her own psychadelic colored eyes and hair, so she stood up and started walking.

The bamboo throngs beneath her creaked at every move she made; this too was relaxing, if only the roaring of machinery in the bustling city around her wasn't so loud.

She eventually got up the stairs and ascended to the balcony of the park.

Amazing how quickly the scenery could change.

Now all she could see was the massive city of Paddo, its depressing blue and grey building filled her vision. Fortunately very few buildings in this city were taller than three stories; the exception was city hall behind her, so most of the sky could still be seen.

No even the sky would be lovely, as columns of smoke and smog marred it just enough to make it lose its luster.

Kaia sighed and turned around to look into the water gardens again.

A low humming sound distracted her just before she got lost in her thoughts, and she looked up over the other end of the water gardens.

A taka unit drone hovered on the street opposite her, patrolling the area no doubt. She ignored it and went back to her musings.

Staring back down into the water, from this height she noticed, for the first time, that there were coy-fish in it. They all swarmed near the center of the artificial pond where, for some reason, it was shallower, the rest of it was so deep that she couldn't see the bottom.

Kaia, could never understand what the designers of this park were going form, the whole thing was like one large jigsaw puzzle, built for a giant.

That might have been why she liked it.

She continued her musings for a minute longer, noting to herself that something shiny was atop the center pillar, before a familiar face entered her vision.

Wind-swept black hair and onyx colored eyes marred the pale face of a man recently graduated into adulthood, like her. His business suit looked so wrong on him.

"Hello Kokutan(Sasuke Uchiha, You'll have to guess the rest from here.), how did your interview go?" Kaia greeted.

The usually stoic man was hanging out over the water and looking up at her from the lower level.

"I'll give you the whole shibang at the grill later. Just as a heads up we're supposed to meet the others in half an hour." Kokutan said before disappearing from her vision.

He was probably rushing to the groups' favorite place to eat, never one to be late.

"I take it the interview did not go well." Kaia shouted, still looking into the water.

She couldn't hear it, but she knew that he had let out his trademark chuckle, which was more of a "hn."

Apparently the relaxing scenery was making her sleepy, because she had to stand up and stretch fully with a mighty yawn.

She brushed her white tunic clean, as it was prone to collecting soot, did the same for her pants, picking a few stray leaves caught in the violet stitching, and start her trek towards the grill.

She decided to take it slow, not wanting to break her relaxing mood. Besides, it was only a ten minute walk anyways.

She passed by a few street vendors who made the city square their place of operations, refusing their offers of fresh fruits, as much as she wanted them, and headed down Dine Street, where, as the name would suggest, most restaurants in the town were held.

All manner of folk walked the street, from eastern people like herself, to peoples of the western continent, and the occasional centralist. The only differences really were the clothes they wore and the manner they held themselves to. For the most part, there were individuals like herself with more... striking features.

Nobody really stood out, most wore earthen tones, not counting her. The only real color to the place, not counting the constant grey and blue of the buildings, came from street signs and the logos for the restaurants trying to seduce the occasional customer.

A small child bumped into her and tried to run away, but faster than you could blink Kaia snatched her by the scruff of her coat, took her money pouch back, slapped the little girl across the face and dropped the crying child back onto the ground. All in onemovement.

She turned her back to the child thief ready to go about her merry way when the most eerie voice spoke to her.

_"Though I approve of your moral fortitude, it's not always beneficial to be so harsh on those who do wicked things."_

Kaia turned around to face a visually stunning woman with two body guards. They were garbed in silver plated armor and vibro-pikes.

The woman was the one to capture her attention though.

She was taller than Kaia by about a boot, with black glistening hair that ended in a bow at her knees. She was dressed in a navy blue Kimono with birds stitched into it and a lovely pink sash tying it together, and forming a butterfly knot at the back.

A single smooth expressionless mask covered her face, with nothing but sharp holes for eyes. There were ruby red lips painted onto it, with silver and blue eye-liner around where the eyes would be, and a feather designs on the cheek.

From under the mask peaked two beautiful eyes, one aqua blue, the other, ruby red, forming a clashing duality.

Even though the only features Kaia could make out of this woman were her black hair, clashing eyes, and milky white hands and feet. She could only describe this woman as beautiful.

_"Come here child."_ The beautiful woman beckoned to the crying child.

The thief hesitantly obeyed, taking a few tentative steps.

When the little girl was close enough the beautiful woman bent down by the knees and spoke again, in that muffled, eerie voice.

_"Where are your parents?"_ The beautiful woman asked.

The child merely shook her head.

_"I see. My story is similar. Surely you are hungry though."_ The beautiful woman prompted.

This time the child nodded.

"Excuse me." Kaia interrupted

The beautiful woman's head snapped to star at her.

"Are you a... Geisha?" Kaia asked offhandedly.

The woman slowly, and yet somehow elegantly, stood up, and simply nodded.

"But I thought the geisha clan was wiped out." Kaia stated dumbly.

_"This is true, I am the last of my blood, but I have started sharing the practices and opened up a school for teaching our many dances, songs, figting styles, and arts. You seem slightly more interested than the average person."_ The Geisha noted slyly.

Kaia didn't even bother to deny it.

"Of course, I think your clan is incredible. The way you mix martial arts with your dances, how you use such inconspicuous objects as deadly weapons. I grew up with stories about how your clan single-handedly turned the tide in the "The Ten Year stale-mate" and the Doujutsu wars." Kaia began ranting before she could stop herself.

Fortunately the Geisha did. (Please note that Geisha is the name of the clan or family, and is in fact her maiden name.)

Putting a hand up the gorgeous woman silenced her.

_"You can tell me all about it this evening."_ She stated simply before nodding to one of her guards.

The guard approached her and handed her an envelope. She was about to ask what was in it, but the geisha saved her the trouble.

_"It is an invitation. Enclosed is the address of the dojo I am opening in town, to train others in the Geisha arts of dance, music, writing, and of course fighting. Come see me this evening, we clearly have much to discuss."_ The Geisha informed her.

_"In the meantime, I have work to do."_ The Geisha finished before abruptly walking past her.

That works out just fine, especially since Kaia was now a minute late to the meeting.

* * *

Kaia made it to the Grill and quickly entered through the glass doors.

Kokutan hadn't been kidding when he said the interior was decorated like a rain-forest.

The lamps hanging from the ceiling had vines cascading from within them, and if she wasn't very much mistaken it was the same breed of vines that the Water Garden at the city's center had held.

Every single wall was painted with exotic beasts, birds and reptiles, with the exception of the back wall which was one long aquarium with small, yet colorful, fish swimming in every corner of it.

She quickly made her way to the table where the male trio was waiting for her.

She weaved her way around small palm trees and comparable bushes, until she finally reached the table.

"You couldn't have been bothered to wait for me before stuffing your face, eh Suji?" Kaia asked. Said man was currently stuffing his face with fried manga and pork, but he managed to muffle out some kind of retort through the mouth full of food, a retort Kaia could not understand.

"Oh my, three whole minutes late? That's so unlike you Kaia." Kokutan chastised her, that unbearable smirk plastering his face.

"Yeah, yeah, get over it. And while you're at it, move over. You don't need three whole seats to yourself, do you emo-boy?" Kaia teased.

"Hm." Kokutan chuckled in response.

He did as he was asked and scooted over anyways.

Kaia promptly took a seat next to him, before snatching a piece of pork from Suji's plate. The man jokingly tried to bite at her hand.

Kaia laughed joyously before eating the small piece of pork. She wasn't that hungry so she had taken a piece small enough to eat in one bite, it was quite good too. The juices from the mango and pineapple were easily detectable over the taste of pork.

"Wow, this is good, great suggestion on your part Suji.(choji)" Kaia complimented the chubby man.

He was too involved with his food to have noticed her compliment though.

She turned her attention to the third man of the group. He had been silent the entire time, as he usually did.

"So, Rensa(shino). Find any work in the suburban area?" Kaia asked.

Rensa simply nodded his head 'no'. Or at least Kaia thought he did, she couldn't tell when he made an expression, what with that hoodie and sunglasses.

"When's that blonde little ditz going to get here?" Kokutan asked exasperatedly.

Oh yeah, how could she have forgotten, they were missing a member of their group..

CRASH!

The sound of plates crashing and shouted reprimands permeated from the restaurants entrance.

"Ah, speak of the devil." Kokutan commented, his smirk returning.

A few more moments of dishes breaking, profanity, and profuse apologies, and the final member of their group arrived.

"Good afternoon Hihi(ino), adorable dress." Kaia complimented politely.

Hihi was wearing a school bus yellow one piece dress that matched her blonde hair perfectly. It was very soft and lovely. Although the rugged cargo pants she was wearing underneath them did help to counteract that girly look.

"Geez fat-ass, you couldn't wait for us to arrive before you started stuffing your face?" Hihi said to Suji.

Suji, for his part, politely flipped her off as he finished the last of his meal.

"You gonna sit down and join us, or continue being a bitch?" Kokutan asked jokingly.

She smiled sweetly in response.

"Neither. I'm actually here with some incredible news for a change." Hihi teased.

They all waited silently for her to spill the news, but apparently she wanted to be coaxed, so Kaia waived her hand to continue.

"So get this, you're not gonna believe it, but the Jesters are in town recruiting! They're at the pier right now."

That was apparently the trigger word, because before Hihi even finished her thought, Kaia, Suji, and Kokutan had all flown right past her, nearly knocking her over.

Rensa, on the other hand, calmly stood up, payed for Suji's meal, and quietly walked past her towards the door.

Hihi quickly followed.

* * *

Kaia and company were now Ripping their way through the shopping district of Paddo city.

Kaia and Kokutan in particular, decided to make a race out of it, as Suji was struggling to keep up with them.

"First one there doesn't pay for dinner tonight." Kaia offered.

"You're on!" Kokutan responded.

The flashing lights and colorful banners of the shopping district flew past them in a blur, as the two ran flat out, the wind in their face and the smell of the ocean in the air.

They played it clean for three blocks until they reached the towns Gelel Spire*, it's dark marble pillars and terraces growing into the sky like limbs of a tree, Gelel energy glowing like veins on its surfaces.

The two turned left and began going down-hill. The ocean, and by extension, the pier was just visible over the buildings in front of them, and now things turned nasty.

Neither was afraid of using dirty tactics.

They swerved around vehicles, leapt over carts of product, and shoved passersby out of the way.

Kaia knew Kokutan was trying as hard as she was, they both took their bouts very seriously, and when she passed the post office she could see the final two mile stretch to her destination.

WHAM!

Kaia ran face first into something large, soft, and oddly sturdy.

She was knocked onto her butt faster than she could say.

"Owe. What the... oh, sorry." Kaia apologized.

The seven foot tall, dark skinned man in front of her wasn't amused.

The black tattooes that littered his body were barely visible over his equally dark skin. The man was raw muscle, but his inch long dreaded hair and goatee were comical enough to make her laugh on the inside, as was the fact that he felt the need to turn his face into a pin cushion.

"You need to watch where you're going little girl." The Pincushion faced douche informed her.

She was just picking herself off the ground when she felt Kokutan grab her underneath the arms and help her up.

"You're from the Piercer gang aren't you?" Kokutan prompted.

"Yes, we are, kind of you to notice." A short, skinny, and white skinned man said as he and another member of their gang approached.

Both had spiked hair and pierced noses, lips, eyebrows, and ears.

"Tell you what, the little lady gives a curt apology and three loving kisses and we'll consider forgiving her rudeness." The third member offered.

"Sorry boys, I don't kiss guys with fishing hooks sticking out of their lips." Kaia insulted.

It was only then that she realized one of the three piercers really did have a fishing hook coming out of his lower lip. Weird, but creative she guessed.

"Ooooh." The other two member teased the guy with the hooked lip, who, it turns, out, had been joking.

He replied with a kurt "shut up".

"Besides, she already apologized. Let's get going. I'm hungry." Said the man she ran into.

Well, at least one of them was reasonable.

"It was at this point that Hihi joined up with them, gasping for air and red as a tomato from running. They could see Suji and Rensa closing in on their position as well.

They had numbers on their side, as well as the fact that they were probably more disciplined fighters.

"Oh no, I don't take kindly to being insulted, no Piercer should." The fish-hook Piercer said, almost menacingly.

'Almost' because Kaia just couldn't get over the fact that the dude actually had a fish hook in his lip.

"Now you listen here little gir..." The piercer started to say, but was rudely interrupted by a fist to his jaw.

Rensa shook the soreness from his knuckles as the Piercer fell to the ground, and the man Kaia had ran into earlier laughed heartily.

"Are we done here?" Rensa asked.

The dark man simply nodded as he was laughing too hard to respond.

The rest of them left the scene and made their way to the docs, this time as a group of five.

"I really like how you handled that Rensa." Hihi commented.

"It's what I do." Rensa goaded humorously.

* * *

The five of them finally made it to the docs.

Ships of all kinds and colors, both wooden and steel, dotted the ocean before them. Most were merchant ships, but there was one that stood out among the rest.

"Whoa-ho, is that a Haido-ship!?" Hihi exclaimed at the sight of the colossal ship in the distance.

And so it was. An aquatic mold too, and brand new no less. It blocked the entire horizon despite being at the far end of the bay.

If Kaia had to guess as to how large it was, she'd measure it at, at least five hundred yards in height. Three times as long.

Towers of iron and steel jutted from its hull, most with clear military capabilities, and bunker-like designs. There were two massive chimney stacks at either end, both billowing smoke or ash into the air.

"What do you think it's doing here? You don't think Paddo declared war on the Central Republic do you?" Kokutan asked out loud.

Kaia sincerely doubted it.

"They probably have an extremely powerful Gelel Battery in it. A new model no doubt. The eastern republic is probably paying the Centrals military to ship them." Kaia offered.

Nice to see the two territories were getting along so splendidly.

"Ten Ken says they have a Security team of Western soldiers." Kokutan dared Kaia.

She wasn't taking that bet, because she was thinking the same thing.

"Let's gooooo! I want to see the Jesters. They're putting on a demonstration at 3." Hihi demanded.

She grabbed Kaia by the arm and began dragging her.

Eventually Kaia and company had managed to relieve Kaia's arm from Hihi's grasp, and walked more civilly towards their destination.

The docs were always a favorite place for performers and merchants alike.

Fire breathers, sword jugglers even street clowns, all vied for their attention, and their nearly depleted money supply.

They ignored the performers and continued on their way just a few blocks until they came to the south beach rec hall.

It was in the shape of a box pyramid and people of all shapes and colors were fighting each-other to get inside.

There was a large crowd gathered around it, mostly youths in their late teens and early twenties, like them.

Posters littered the street pronouncing the Jesters arrival, and a large curtain and stage was set up, hiding whatever performers would be coming.

"I do so love how conspicuous and flashy the Jesters make themselves. They're monsters in combat, but even on a battle-field they have always entertained." An older gentleman that Kaia recognized as a local story-teller explained to his grandson.

"Well shit, me too." Hihi said to her friends.

The group of five, Suji in the lead, charged through the crowd.

The other youths didn't stand a chance against Suji mass, he ran through them like a rhinoceros

They made it into the sitting room, wooden floors, walls and ceiling greeted them, as did more crowds of youths.

They eventually managed to maneuver into the less crowded hallways and made their way past the ball courts, and gyms until they finally reached the auditorium.

Most of the seats were already filled, but the room wasn't yet as crowded as she knew it was going to be.

The team quickly made their way to a back corner where they would be out of sight and inconspicuous.

They had ten minutes left before the demonstration, so they committed themselves to watching as more people filed in and eavesdropped on their conversation.

The old story-teller and his grandson ended up sitting very close to them, close enough to hear.

"But gramps, aren't the Jesters and the Geisha the same?" A little boy asked.

Ooooh. If there were any Geisha of Jesters present they'd kill the foolish child.

"No, completely unrelated. The Geisha, among other things, employ mostly females, and keep it all in blood relations and marriage, or at least they did. Jesters employ men, woman, young, and elderly, and they have completely different styles in how they fight and behave."

That's one way of putting it. Geisha were trained from youths to be elegant and beaitiful. They were curt and business-like, as well as respectful and serious. The Jesters were Chaotic and unpredictable. Their strengths were complete opposites.

"But none of this matters, the Geishas died out over a decade ago. And we're here to see the Jesters, maybe they'll recruit some of our young men and women."

"We can only hope." Kokutan whispered to Kaia.

She agreed completely.

* * *

The lights eventually dimmed down, and the curtains rolled back to reveal a solitary figure, garbed completely in a blue body suit with a jester hat and painted face.

He bowed at the applause that greeted him and picked up a microphone.

"Good afternoon, citizens of Paddo. how are you all doing on this fine day." The man asked with a smooth voice.

He was born to be an entertainer.

The crowd roared, but Kaia and Kokutan stayed oddly quiet. They instantly knew something was off.

"I am your chaperon tonight; I must ask that nobody comes on stage, as you are likely to be injured if you do." The blue-jester warned.

He dropped the microphone and put out one hand.

A red light emanated from his fore-arm, before a ball of flame materialized in his hand.

"Gelel-fire?" Hihi asked.

"Yup, and a really low powered one at that." Kaia said suspiciously.

The performer threw it high into the air and walked away, just as it was about to hit the ground, a Jester garbed in red ran forward and caught it in his hand. A hand which was also glowing with Gelel Energy.

Another warning bell went off in Kaia's mind, and it must have shown on her face or posture, because Kokutan saw it.

"I noticed it too." Kokutan said and a green yellow, and brown jester came on stage, juggling spheres of fire and lightning.

"Noticed what?" Suji prompted.

They decided to hold off on answering, in case they were wrong.

The Rainbow of jesters continued to display their ability to wield such basic Gelel spells, until finally the jester in red and the jester in yellow stepped up to each-other.

The other Jesters left the stage and the red and yellow ones bowed to each-other.

"That's the final straw, it's obvious now. They are frauds." Kaia whispered to the others.

The looks of shock on their faces were lit up by the low level lightning and fire spells being used on the stage.

The two fake-jesters were imbueing their fists with fire and lightning imbued gelel-energy and sparring in a tae-kwan-do style.

"How can you tell?" Hihi prompted, probably hoping that Kaia was mistaken.

Where to begin.

"Several reasons, 1) at the beginning of every performance a Jester recruiter will give a short speech describing their history and values 2) they are not boasting the Jester insignia, 3) Jesters do not use such low powered gelel spells. Period. They only employ warriors who are upper B-class or higher, these two fighters would be considered D, as would we." Kaia explained.

This wasn't even a well done scam, Kaia was willing to bet that the fake-jesters before them would inform the crowd that any person in the room may join, with an entry fee at the end of the performance.

"Last but not least, Only the Dukes and Duchesses (Explained later) are allowed to wear red, and there's no way in hell that little shit dressed in all red is a Duke of the jesters. There are only five and they don't lower themselves to the point of recruiting new members." Kokutan raged quietly.

Kaia looked to where the old story-teller and his grandson were sitting. The look on the old mans face was a mix of pure disgust, and slight fear.

He beckoned his grandson to stand up and the two began to leave.

It dawned on Kaia that they should do the same, just as the other fake-jesters joined in, with basic water, earth, and wind Gelel-spells.

The five of them pushed through the room, now filled to the brim with people and to the doorway that the old man had just left through with his grandson. (Please note, that if I do not name a character they are not the past lives of anyone, so no, these two are not important.)

When they reached the door they had to push through more people that were crowding the hall, trying to watch the show.

A few minutes later they had all managed to squeeze through the crowd and into hte empty hallway, and just as they made it to the front door they heard the main performer state that they accepting recruits and the entrance price was 200 Ken.

* * *

"What a complete waste of a day. I don't think I've been this unproductive since I was in my mothers womb!" Kokutan raged.

The gang had managed to make it back to the small apartment they had been staying in for the past week. Four futons littered the floor, as the group of five got ready for bed.

Kaia was getting particularly tired of sharing a futon with that bed-hog Hihi. Speaking of whom.

"This is all your fault! I blame you!" Kokutan said accusingly at Hihi.

To her credit, the girl looked surprised.

"What, my fault?" Hihi said angrily.

"Yes, you were the one who suggested we come to Paddo. We all pooled our money together to get the boat trip out here, and to buy this shitty studio apartment, which we'll lose come next friday, and now not a single clan will take us." Kokutan ranted.

Well that wasn't completely fair.

"Now Kokutan, we all agreed that we had the best chance of joining a clan by coming to Paddo, Hihi may have suggested the place, but we all agreed upon the trip, and knew it was a gamble." Kaia said soothingly.

Kokutan looked like he wanted to argue some more, and opened and closed his mouth a few times angrily, before giving up and sitting down in the only chair they had.

Kokutan sighed and ran his hands down his face, clearly as stressed as Kaia was.

"Well then, what do we do now? Not a single clan or government office wants to hire us, and I'm getting sick and tired of working in that warehouse." Suji complained.

Oh yeah, that's right, Suji had managed to get a job a few days ago. And he got the most unfulfilling a job imaginable too.

"We can try joining the Piercers, I'm sure they'd be ecstatic about employing us after I decked one of their own." Rensa suggested.

The rest of the group actually laughed at the mans dry attempt at humor. And laughed hard.

Kaia was rolling on the ground before she knew it.

It was times like these that Kaia remembered why they were such close friends. When things got rough, someone in the group always knew how to make things seem just a little bit better.

"Well, we might have to get real jobs for a while but we won't give up on joining a clan. I'm sure the real Jesters will be coming into town to put up a disclaimer about the fraudulent display we witnessed today." Rensa offered.

"And when they do, we'll have our shot!" Hihi yelled confidently.

* * *

Kaia and company had all cleaned up and were ready for bed, Hihi in particular was already sprawled un-lady-like across their shared futon. Her snoring was terrible.

She sighed exacerbated as Kokutan tucked himself in for sleep.

She really didn't like the idea of getting in the same bed with her borderline lesbian bunk-mate.

Then she remembered something.

The Geisha!

Kaia reached into her dirty clothes bag and pulled out the Jeans she had been wearing that day, and reaching inside the pocket she found the envelope she had been given earlier that day.

The sun was just now setting, so there was no time like the present.

She went back into the small bathroom and slipped out of her silk pajama bottoms and top, and back into the pants and tunic she wore that day.

A few moment later she was back outside, the last glow of sunlight giving the town an orange luster.

She ripped open the envelope and read the invitation, which was an address written on a single card, why hadn't they just given her a business card for all intents and purposes.

The Geisha Dojo

1838 9th and Dine

That was only ten blocks away, near the restaurant Kaia and the gang had eaten at.

With this happy thought in mind Kaia made her way towards what might be her last chance at the kind of future she wanted.

* * *

By the time she had reached Dine Street Kaia began feeling overwhelming guilt at what she was doing. Not to mention a little suspicion.

Let's assume that this Geisha was legitimate, and that she had survived the massacre of ten years previously. Where did that leave her?

She could join, the Geisha were usually her arch-type, dark hair, pale skin, and very, very, slim. She would do very well in it, but she didn't think she could go along.

Hihi was the only other girl in their group, and she was completely lacking in manners and in the common Geisha appearance

She jokingly imagined that Kokutan could conceivably make himself feminen enough to join, he was already very pretty, but it only served to remind her that by joining the new Geisha group she would be abandoning her friends into the life of a civilian, without the adventure and exploring that they all craved.

And so her conviction was set firmly in place, just as the street lamps came on.

It was a few more minutes of walking before she finally found the small dojo with the words "Geisha Dojo" printed above the door.

It was made increasingly obvious by the silver armored and vibro-pike wielding body guards she had seen earlier that day.

Kaia approached the guards with quick, long strides, and stood at attention in front of the first one.

"I am here to speak with Lady Geisha." Kaia informed the guard.

"I am sorry miss, but lady Geisha is currently performing at the ascension hotel. She was expecting you to come earlier." The guard informed her.

Well that sucked, because there was no way in hell Kaia could manage to get into the Ascension hotel, that place was top class.

"Oh, well, would you be so kind as to hand this back to her, and to tell her that I must refuse her proposal." Kaia asked the guard.

She handed him the envelope that he had given her that morning, which he took.

"I'm sorry to hear that you will not be joining, Lady Geisha seemed very interested in you, and I thought I saw the desire to join in your eyes." The guard informed her as he pocketed the letter.

Wow, was she that easy to read? (Hinata sure as hell is)

"Well, I did want to, but I decided, that for my future and for the future of those I care about, I must refuse. I am sorry." Kaia apologized with a bow.

The guard put up a hand to stop her mid bow, and placed that hand on her shoulder.

"Don't be. Whenever you make a decision, make it with that criteria in mind, and you can do no wrong." The guard advised her.

Kaia couldn't believe how personal this man was being with her after just meeting. She stared into his blue eyes a moment longer, speech-less.

"I'm sorry, but I must be going." Kaia apologized before turning heal intent on returning to the apartment.

* * *

Her intentions and her feet were clearly not in agreement, because she found herself walking in the other direction, past the Gelel Spire and towards the beach.

Why was she so upset? Oh yeah, she had just given up an opportunity that guaranteed the future she had dreamed of for years.

Sometimes loving others, hurt, and right now was a prime example.

A few minutes later of mindless wandering and she stood in a mostly empty beach, the evening waves crashing against the random wooden docs and the rocky shore.

She sat down on one of the massive stones that separated the beach from the road and stared out over the ocean.

The massive Heido ship was still where it had been before, only now lights flickered from it's many windows and decks, creating hundred of artificial stars to match the natural ones above it.

She heard him before she saw him, and she recognized those silent footsteps.

"You should have accepted their offer; none of us would have held it against you." His quiet and calculating voice greeted her.

Her oldest friend sat down next to her on the boulder, lowering his hood for her to see his shaved head.

Rensa (shino) took a seat next to her and removed his hood, revealing a shaven head.

"On the contrary, we would be happy for you." Rensa(shino

) continued.

Kaia couldn't help but smile at him.

"Good evening Rensa, were you following me?" Kaia greeted the sickly man.

He smiled in return and used two fingers to indicate that he had been following her just a little.

They chuckled lightly, just like they always did when they were stuck talking alone.

"Oh Rensa, I fear I might have just made the biggest mistake of my entire life." Kaia lamented out loud.

"I'd say. Traveling two thousand miles away from home with a group of three jack-offs isn't the smartest thing we've ever done."

Kaia snorted, actually snorted at that one.

Why wasn't he this open around other people besides her? With that kind of humor he should be the life of the party.

"But on a more serious note, may I ask you a personal question?" Rensa asked.

"You always can, I never mind." Kaia told him.

He nodded his understanding, as a pale red glow enveloped the area.

"Why did you refuse?" You'd make as great a Geisha as anyone else." Rensa said.

Kaia answered without hesitation.

"Because you fool, I don't want to go on an adventure with one of the great clans, if you guys aren't standing next to me." Kaia told him.

Rensa simply nodded his understanding.

"Now, may I ask you a personal question?" Kaia asked seriously.

"Always." Rensa answered without hesitation.

He even stood up straighter.

"May I touch your hair?" Kaia asked sweetly.

Rensa burst out laughing, louder that she had heard him laugh in a long time.

He was laughing so hard he couldn't say yes or no, so he simply nodded.

She ran a hand down his scalp and reveled in the feeling of his short, short, hair bristling against her skin.

"One of the three best feelings on the planet." Kaia sighed as she pulled her hand up for aother stroke.

The red glow was getting brighter, but thye paid it no mind.

"What are the other two?" Rensa asked curiously.

"Well, one is that feeling you get after you've worn tube socks all day and you scratch the part of your calves that it touched, and the other one is, according to rumor, ..." but she was interrupted but a shout of.

"FIRE!"

Kaia and Rensa leapt to their feet in shock.

How had the two of them been so caught up in the conversation to notice the growing red glow of the fire that was now consuming most of the coastal buildings?

"It looks like it started at the Rec Hall." Rensa pointed out.

He was right, the flames were highest at the boxed pyramid of a rec hall that they had been at that afternoon.

Had the real Jesters found out about the impostors that quickly? Kaia knew they were unforgiving to impersonators, but were they extreme enough to put the lives of civilians in danger?

Kaia didn't wait for someone to ask for her help, and neither did Rensa. The two immediately charged down the street towards the fire.

The nearest building suffering from the flames was nearly a mile away, which gave them time to plan a strategy.

The two didn't need to discuss a plan, they both knew their own and each-others' abilities, and both would inevitably come to the same conclusions.

When they reached the first building Kaia immediately activated the Gelel stone in her left arm and shot a blast of the blue-green energy into the ocean. Then, after activating the Gelel stone in her right arm, she shot another blast into the flaming flower shop.

A moment later a vortex of water erupted from the ocean where she had blasted it, and shot towards the flaming building.

Rensa had already gone into action, activating his Gelel energy and using it to influence the torrent of water. Ensuring that it did not collapse and controlling where it soaked the building.

The flower shop had very minimal amounts of fire on it, as did the next few shops along the way towards the Rec Hall.

They didn't have to wait long before the fire fighters arrived. Two whole squads of them pulled up right in front of them. They were nearly pancaked by their large metal box of a vehicle.

The fire chief walked right up to them without hesitation, the two crews behind him.

"Most of my men are just up the hill preventing the fire from spreading, or on the other end of the beach doing the same, I have two units left one will be remaining here to preform preventative measures, the other will be going in to fight the heavier fire. We could use any help you have to offer." The chief explained

Kaia and Rensa were a little thrown off by the fire chief's directness, but they quickly composed themselves.

"That's good, because we have plenty offer." Kaia said confidently.

Five minutes later saw Kaia and Rensa charging into flaming building with a unit of hunky fire-fighters in tow. Kaia was tasked with blasting building of water with the Gelel equipped half of the unit, while Rensa was tasked with conjuring a protective barrier of water around the rescue teams.

They bravely rescued not ten, not twenty but thirty people from before they finally reached the Rec Hall. And it looked daunting.

And that's when trouble hit.

"Kaia! stop!" Rensa gasped as he fell to his knees.

Damnit, it was getting worse.

"You're completely out of calories*?" Kaia asked as her dear friend tried to regain himself.

Rensa shook his head.

"Cancer sucks, but it's not stopping you. You'll need to make the charge into there." Rensa instructed her.

Well duh, Kaia didn't need him to tell her that, she pretty much already knew.

"Here, trade." Kaia offered.

She touched her left arm and activated the Gelel energy, the marble sized sphere of crystal floated out of her wrist and she grabbed it. Rensa did the same, and they quickly exchanged Gelel stones.

Kaia activated the element-less barrier stone, and infused its energy with the water from the ocean, creating a massive sphere suited for 4 people.

The three rescuers that had been accompanying Rensa up until now joined her within the sphere, and when the group of fire fighters had caused the fire to recede enough for them to enter, they did so.

The place was exactly the same as it had been that morning, only this time on FIRE!

"We can handle ourselves from here, most of the place is built of bedrock, so most isn't aflame. We three will take the left, you go right." The fire chief instructed, and she did so.

With the water barrier still active she charged through the double doors on the left.

There were benches and coat hangers all along the walls of this room, the floor was tiled with the occasional drain.

Kaia assumed the pool was through the doors on her right, but the ceiling was still a giant wall of fire, so she didn't fancy dropping the water barrier just yet.

The charged through the doors into the pool area, and what she saw disgusted, terrified, and confused her.

The entire pool was frozen solid, spikes of ice jutting from its' surface and impaling the dead fools in the area. One of them Kaia recognized as the green Jester. The one who used low d-ranked wind spells.

Kaia could... kind of guess what happened here. She had never hear of Ice-imbued Gelel before but she could conceive it as possibly existing. But whoever used it to freeze this place and to kill these people would be at an A-rank level, beyond her capability of fighting.

There must be two Jesters here. One imbued with fire, the other with Ice. Both A-rank, and both likely to be true Jesters, Knight level.

For a moment she considered the possibility of getting an interview with one of them, but cast aside the childish thought. If they were here, then this was officially a war zone.

She advanced forward, out of the pool area and through the halls, towards the auditorium.

She had to maneuver around fallen debris and more spikes of ice big enough to impale horses, a few with human corpses placed on them, Vlad the impaler status.

Kaia had to avert her eyes at these instances.

She made it to the auditorium doors and kicked it in, only to see dozens of human beings dead or dying, burned, or frozen solid.

Dozens of bodies littered the auditorium, most belonging to the young men and women who attended the performance that day, and had been foolish enough to pay the scammers into joining the fake Jesters.

She activated the power in her very blood, and her families Lunar Eyes allowed her to see clearer than in any other instance.

She looked through benches and rubble, even behind the curtains.

None had been left alive, and the fire now consumed the bodies they had left behind.

She was crushed by what she was seeing, until a flicker of light illuminated her vision, there, on the other side of the room, under the stage, was a living person. She could see the life energy flowing through his body.

He wasn't moving, but that didn't stop Kaia from charging towards him.

She was shocked to find the dark skinned Piercer that she had crashed into that afternoon. He was breathing, but just barely.

The fire had cauterized the wounds from when his legs had been removed forcibly from his body, but it had also cauterized most of the rest of him.

She dispelled the water barrier so as to kill the closest flames and ember. This also served to wake the man up, as his eyes then fluttered open.

She kneeled down to lift his head slightly.

He was dazed and confused, and recognized neither her nor his surroundings.

She reactivated the Lunar Eyes with what Gelel energy she had left, and was nearly blinded by a source of energy so massive it looked like an exploding star. It looked like Gelel and... something else.

She deactivated her bloodline in order to start up at whatever was the source of the energy.

It took her a moment to recognize that it was a person who was standing above her, staring down from the roof, through the massive hole in the ceiling.

She could barely describe what she was seeing as human.

It's limbs were nothing but metal attachments and wires jutting out its body, with fingers as sharp as the claws of a predator. It's wore a black vest that she assumed to be bullet proof, and red cargo pants. Atop it's scarred and melted head, with teeth just out from where it's lips had once been, was a five pronged jester hat, of the color red.

This wasn't a jester knight, this was a Jester Duke, the highest of their echelon, and an S-class(kage level) warrior, capable of single-handedly leveling small cities.

Kaia froze, unable to move. This is the terror unleashed against those who impersonate a Jester, it was the same terror she was told they unleashed against their enemies during times of war.

It was soul shattering.

The person, Kaia couldn't determine its' gender, raised a single hand, and pointed to the stage behind her.

She turned, slowly, and hesitantly, to look at what it had been pointing at.

Painting on the back wall of the stage, in the blood of the victims of this massacre, was a face, tongue dragging behind it like a dog sticking it's head out of a car window, teeth as sharp as daggers, and a five pronged jester had, just like the one the person above her was wearing.

One of the jester impostors the one that had been wearing red, was slumped on the floor, more mutilated than the rest had been.

Kaia felt a sudden spasm come from the tall dark man in her arms, and looked down to see a small spear of ice piercing his heart.

Kaia's eyes shot back to the Jester Duke above her, and she saw an odd energy, completely different from Gelel energy, permeating from its fist.

The three fire-fighters from earlier kicked in the door on her right and came charging into the room.

Her vision had turned to them for just moment, and when she turned back it was to see that the Jester Duke had vanished.

The fire-fighters had managed to escort her out of the building, but it took Rensa to calm her down.

Before she knew it she was explaining everything she had just seen to her childhood friend, unable to hide the terror in her voice.

He listened calmly and quietly the entire time, not questioning anything and clearly believing every word.

A few hours later the rest of the gang showed up, demanding to know exactly what had happened. She didn't have the energy to explain it all again, so they all walked home quietly.

She fell asleep the moment she crawled into the futon.

None of them knew how far reaching the consequences of that night were. An entire world of adventure, both good and bad, would soon be opened to them.

* * *

**_FINALLY DONE. That ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would._**

**_All right. so let's explain here._**

**_1) The lunar eyes, are the Byakugan. Only they used to power it by using Gelel energy instead of chakra, so they have some different, and interesting, abilities._**

**_2) yes, Rensa has cancer._**

**_3) yes, kaia will be paired up with Naruto's past life when they finally meet. He doesn't make his appearance until chapter 5, but the majority of the story revolves around their relationship._**

**_4) There are only three mega-continents on the Naruto planet, the Central continent, and the central republic, are where the elemental nations will one day be formed, and are ruled by the ancestors of the Uzumaki, wielders of the rinnegan, masters of technology and engineers of collosals._**

**_Paddo city, where the gang is chilling in this chapter, is located on an island south of this continent, where the crescant moon kingdom will one day be. (note, it wasn't always shaped like that.)_**

**_Eastern continent is owned by the ancestors of the hyuuga, Kaia's clan, and they are the masters of Gelel, they have a manopoly on energy production, gelel being their most lucrative industry. It is the largest of the three continents._**

**_The western continent is ruled by the ancestors of the Uchiha, masters of warfare and weaponry. They are deadly warriors, and most weapons, bladed and fire-arms alike, are created and shipped from this nation en-masse._**

**_It is the smallest of the three._**

**_Yes, this is the age mentioned in the movie "stone of Gelel", and it is an age of machines, magic, and wealth unlike any other._**

**_And since chakra is powered by a combination of physical and mental energy, i thought it would make sense if instead of providing it's own energy, Gelel stones drew energy from the wielders body, the only kinds of energy our bodies use are calories, protiens, fats, and sugars._**

**_Run out, and you can't use gelel. Simple as that._**

**_As a final note, Suji is Choji, Rensa is Shino, and Hihi is Ino. I know it's obvious, but I need to come out and say it._**


End file.
